Bee on the Lookout: Thieves Steal Illinois Beekeeper’s $4000 Beehive?

The old saying, "no good deed goes unpunished" just came true for a Rockford area farm and their loaned beehives and honey producing equipment.

A Rockford farm says two of its bee hives were stolen on Saturday (7/17/21) night and they believe it may have been someone who knows a few things about handling bees.

A Little Beekeeping 101

I had a chance to speak with Mark Schandelmeier, who along with his wife, own and operate Rockford's Lost and Found Farm. They use the bees for several purposes around their farm, including pollination and honey production.

Lost and Found Farm started their hive four years ago and as the hive grew they began loaning the bees to other farms needing assistance with pollination.

They recently loaned two hives and some other bee-related equipment to a farm needing help and that's when their good deed turned into a loss totaling $4000.

On Sunday (7/18/21), the farm with the loaned bee hives called with some bad news. The bee, the hives, and all the equipment was stolen.

In addition to using the bees on their farm, Lost and Found also like spend time teaching young people about the many purposes a bee serves and how important they are to our food and environment.

Get our free mobile app

A Particular Kind of Swift Karma

During our conversation, Mark shared that he believed the bees and the equipment may have been stolen by someone who knows how to handle bees. Those suspicions come from when and how the hives and bees were moved from where they were positioned at the other farm.

As one Facebook comment mentioned, we wish for the thieves to be stung over and over, sending them to the hospital for treatment. Clearly, someone with multiple bee stings would stand out.

While that sounds like the perfect kind of karma, Mark shared that he's glad it didn't happen. While not all bees die after stinging someone, all honey bees do die after they sting someone.

A Go Fund Me account has been started for Lost and Found Farm that you can connect with here.